Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I woke up at 5 this morning and counted the things husband had not done - and then I couldn't go back to sleep. One of them I'd been asking for over 2 months, and reminded every day I was away, except the last day because I thought he'd finally gotten the hint. But no it still wasn't done.

However, what was done was astounding - grocery shopping, all my favorites - including strawberries and Perrier, along with all laundry in the laundry basket, clean floors, clean kitchen, cleaned garage - well I noticed all these things today as I felt repentant over my bad attitude from this morning.

I actually woke him up - well after he snored and the dog scratched and banged around at the door and I couldn't get back to sleep to say how frustrated I was about that one thing he hadn't done.

I then listed - in my mind - my current condition, 7 mo pregnant, tired, had to return to work that morning and train new person plus get caught up on work piled up from vacation, tired, overwhelmed from convincing self I had to do everything at work and home - then I got mad at God because I tried to pray it all away and still couldn't get back to sleep. I can actually imagine him rolling his eyes as I kick my heels on the ground - just as I do when my little girl throws herself on the ground and kicks and cries.

After our morning alarm went off he asked what I wanted for breakfast - french toast & yogurt, later brought lunch to me at work, and made several options for dinner along with a berry pie.

And God - well I had safety on the way to and home from work and nothing heavy fell on my head so I guess he accepted my apology.

I just thought you should all know that I have crazy early morning insanity sometimes, I'm not perfect, neither is my husband but as least I can give tribute to him in retrospect and still hoping that thing I asked for gets done soon.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Charlotte has been all kinds of bad this morning. She's slapped me in the face twice, spit banana on the floor, followed by French Toast, followed by tossing her juice box over the shoulder onto the floor. After a series of quiet times in her room we progressed to the master bedroom to put away clothes, she on the side of the bed with our book stand. I haven't worried too much about her with books because she does not tear pages - until now.

I hear a long riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip - the cover of husband's favorite book has been destroyed. He comes out of the bathroom as I stare glumly at his torn book - a collectible, rather hard to find novel and he say's, "don't worry, it's just a book, I will teach her to respect books, besides she's irreplaceable".

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Ever have a day where you are unsure if you should do something productive or fun? In my case it's packing for our trip to Maryland. The work week is so hectic I have to pack on the weekend.

So I started packing this morning; then we walked the dog and it's so nice outside. Daughter is full of happy energy and tugging on my clothes. I think the almost 2 years of going somewhere every weekend have become ingrained in her expectations. So we slowly switch gears and pack for the beach.

I'm down to one light bag that consolidates her toiletries, my purse necessities, snacks, water and a camera. Most days we only stay an hour so we go without a beach umbrella and it's still comfortable enough outside to be okay in the sun. I had to downsize, she's heavy, gear is heavy and I'm now in the 6th month of pregnancy.

The weather is really windy, cloudy and around 78 so the beach was empty - I was able to navigate our car to a premium parking spot directly on the beach at 11am! We were running a tad late due to a pit stop at Cracker Barrel wherein we drank lots of orange juice!

I managed to get Charlotte to walk with me onto the beach - a first! Normally I carry her but we are trying to find alternatives to save on aches and pains.
It's a red flag day with rip currents which means surfers were out riding the waves.
We settled for fun in the sand.

We are home now and in order for the next phase of our day to begin, a nap must happen. Unfortunately a mini nap occurred on the ride home which was followed by a warm bath, followed by warm milk neither of which could cajole her back into nap status. She walked around the house with hand to face and laid on the floor. I spent some time in her room showing her what a nap means and she climbed all over me until I couldn't take the poking and prodding anymore. 45 minutes later, still tired, no progress. She finally does something bad enough that I can put her in time out which could lead to a nap. Crying ends quickly, silence, 10 minutes later knocking on the door but I keep writing. Finally silence. Silent victory.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

1.What do you do and what kind of hours do you work?I'm a toy designer and my official title is Director of Product Development. I manage a really small team in the US and my day is spent making corrections & new art packages on Disney licensed toys and some Nickelodeon and Dreamworks characters to break it up. Our team is so small that we ship our own boxes, order our own supplies and generally wear many hats.

We send our art/corrections to Asia R&D teams in Hong Kong & Vietnam and they work on our samples and send photos at the end of their day for our critique.

My hours are 10-6pm with an hour in the evening spent with Asia R&D teams to discuss any questions or issues.

I used to travel to Asia 3 times a year but fortunately I've managed the same Asia teams for so long that I haven't had to go as often since I started a family. In fact, I've only gone once! I love the travel portion but since starting a family I am so grateful for the flexibility my boss has offered.

2. What's a typical day like for you? 6:30 - prayer followed by yoga, in other words I express thankfulness for my wonderful life and then streatch to get rid of all the aches and pains of pregnancy that set in over night.

7:15 - go for 2 mile walk

The above is BEST CASE SCENARIO and represents my perfect morning which is occasionally interrupted with earlier waking baby, or helping husband with baby when bottles are not washed, changing a diaper, all things which throw me off schedule which just means I do less of the workout.

During the 2 mile walk husband and baby join for a round or two. This makes the walk go for 45 to an hour where as I could do 2 miles in 30 minutes. I love walking with them, it's really the best part of my morning. Sometimes baby is in a bad mood but we do our best to cheer her up and I enjoy seeing all the wild birds around the lake and talking with my husband.

8 - 9:45 - eat breakfast and get ready for work

10-6pm - work

6:15 - Again, best case scenario, many times I leave well after 7 :(Come home to rescue stay at home husband from the ravages of baby wrath as he gets dinner ready. Spend time with her until 8pm bedtime

8-10 - My time with husband and/or me time

3. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for "me" time?Read books, blogs and blogging sorry that's all I got, I probably waste most evenings of me time watching TV or movies in a brain-dead stupor while eating dessert.

4. How do you fit blogging into your schedule? After baby goes to bed at 8pm

5. What's your best working mommy tip?Don't nag stay at home husband. He's my best friend, my partner, friend not foe (or food if you're watching Finding Nemo - sorry bad joke). If I come home to a disaster, no dinner made and happy or wound up baby I just know he's had a tough day and I don't bitch about it. I also make myself eat a snack every day at 5pm before coming home so I don't fly in the door like a witch. They haven't seen me all day, it's important to come home and be cheerful, I do my best.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

8:20 - panic sets in as I remember dentist appointment at 9am and haven't eaten breakfast or showered

8:40 - leave house after quick shower, make up, hair, find black dress hidden in garage from distant memory of packing it there weeks ago and eat a bowl of yogurt. Where is this hidden ability on other days???

10:00 - stop for latte and quick shop at White House Black House store - I never, ever get to shop alone, could not resist and I swear it took me less than 10 minutes to select a gorgeous coral silk scarf to go with my black dress. Sigh! I am so returning the junky clothes bought at Target this past weekend in a fit of panic over needing something new.

10:30 - arrive to work

1:30 - call husband to remind him to bring in our daughter for product testing - finally - as a designer I finally have an opportunity to use my child for product testing!

5 minutes later - he calls to say he's locked them out of house without keys. I drive home, collect daughter (who is giggly and happy to see me), realize he hasn't eaten lunch, run inside to make bag of trail mix, fling at him and he follows me back to the office by 2pm

2:30 - sit in on interview with new designer already underway with colleagues

3:00 - 3:50 - meeting

3:50 - 6:30 - actual work interrupted with impromtu meetings, shipping of boxes, training intern and brain refusing to work from overload.

6:30 - I have to depart because husband has a class at 8:00pm, drive home just in time to catch him finishing hamburgers for dinner. Pack his hamburger to go while he get's ready for work and he's off!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Husband is a stay at home dad and his primary focus is care and happiness of Charlotte. I work full time at a toy company where I design toys and manage the entire development process.

At the beginning of our arrangement, I consulted with a co-worker who had been a stay at home dad for 6 years with his kids while his wife worked full time as a nurse. He being recently divorced, I asked what stresses were put on the marriage through his time as a stay at home dad. He said the worst part was cleaning the entire house before she got up from day time naps (she was a night nurse) only to have the kids trash the place minutes before she woke up and then she would complain about the mess. Fights about how a load of laundry wasn't thrown in. Fights about chores, why couldn't he do more. I decided at the beginning to come how and support my husband regardless of the condition of the home, I'd expect the same if the situation were reversed. I'm not perfect, I have at times raised an eyebrow to certain, ahem, conditions but I've really done my best to just be supportive.

So here is our breakdown:

* I do all the bills, grocery planning and laundry
* Husband works weekends so that is my exclusive time with daughter and I try to balance it with laundry + food planning for the week and usually grocery shopping although lately I've been slacking on this since it's getting really tough to do while pregnant and hauling around 21mo old!
* Husband does all the cleaning, trash, pet care, dishes, home & car maintenance - which he does with the "helping hands" of a 21 month old and after 8pm when she goes to bed. It usually takes all week to get through the basics.
* We both make dinner and depending on what time I get home is when we eat
* I jump in where ever I can with cleaning

The house is never perfect; there is always something to clean or do but we have so much joy and happiness that I have no complaints.

I've been on a pie making streak lately. It all started with Pi Day where I made a Cherry pie, then last week an Apple pie and this weekend a Strawberry pie. All incredibly good and with a full Strawberry pie in the fridge I decided this morning I wanted the last piece of apple pie - but it was gone! Apparently leaving husband home all day with toddler means unlabeled/unclaimed food disappears. I have been advised to make use of post-it notes to claim food!

*******

I have no shame when it comes to dressing for family walks - much less evenings at home. Here is me in my finest evening attire - blue & white striped pants (15yrs old - hello high school), black maternity tank top and GOLD sandals! Someone nominate me for What Not to Wear - PLEASE! It's like a cry for help.

Monday, April 05, 2010

What a jam packed day! I've told ya'll that husband works weekends and I work M-F so we take a day off together very seriously and somewhere in the back of my head is my father's mantra to make the absolute most of every single day off.

Highlights:Easter Service 7am at Lockhart Stadium (wake up at 5am)- Charlotte abandons us to sit with another family- Is very tired from waking an 1.5 hours early- Sings and claps along to the songsBeach- Charlotte sleeps on the way to the beach (we take a very long leisurely drive)- I'm pretty sure Laura Ashley didn't intend for her dresses to be worn at the beach with Croc's...

Post Beach- Stop at Starbucks- Home brings naps for Husband/Charlotte and yoga for me because a nap just makes me more tired and lately my body's been really achy and crampy; stretching is so important while pregnant, I just need to make time for it!

Saturday, April 03, 2010

PART 1
This morning, in an attempt to use up old veggies and fruits in the fridge that were purchased at a farmers market and going old faster than grocery store produce, I did the following:

3 green apples - peeled, steamed 30min and smashed into green apple sauce, it was so soft I didn't even need a food processor! Baby should love this treat later

2 oranges, 5 lemons, 1 lime - squeezed into a citrus aide - initially forgot how to cut an orange so may not have gotten all the juice :(

1 red pepper - roasted in oven for salad later

Where was baby? eating cheerios, throwing cheerios and then begging for more breakfast scraps. At some point I managed to make french toast and we enjoyed that with orange juice. Moving onto the beach.

Time 9am

note to self, don't give baby folic acid vitamin bottle, she can open it and may be sitting quietly on couch sorting them!

PART 2
We arrived to the beach at 10am and got the last parking spot, thus starts the summer beach season and means we need to leave at 9am to find a good spot. Duly noted.

I forgot to feed Charlotte her second bottle before leaving, I guess all the productivity of the morning zapped my brain. Good thing I brought cheerios.

Would you like some sand with those?
I finally found a way to remove all the redness from my face at the beach:
Fun running from water pose (I love these):
And finally enjoying water:

Afternoon takes us to Chick Fil A (no guilt about eating there when pregnant!!!), with a Cookies N Cream milkshake (yes shared), bath time and finally nap time.

note to self, after toddler has been left to nap, do not check on her! Opening the door only wakes up an already calmed baby and you have to start the process all over again. Just reminding you, author, because you've made this mistake 2 times now!

PART 3
Remainder of places to go when baby wakes up:

Target for Easter basket candy

Meat Market

Farmer's Market

Fill car with gas

Kilwin's for special chocolate bunny

Things to do after she goes to bed:

Wash beach gear, repack all

Pack picnic lunch for Easter Sunday

Make Strawberry Pie

Go to bed at 9am because getting up at 5am for 7am Sunrise service

I should probably go make dinner while she's napping because it's already 3:30 and this day is going fast!

note to self, do not feed baby green apple sauce at 7pm and expect an easy bedtime an hour later.

Friday, April 02, 2010

I'm not a friend of change when it comes to favorite designer leaving!

Backing up a bit, I've managed the creative department of a small toy company for about 6 years. In that time I've hired some fantastic women that I absolutely adore. Over the years I've brought them in directly from college and watched them grow professionally and one by one they leave when an exciting career opportunity comes along. I'm so happy to see them take these leaps forward but so sad because there is always a void when they leave.

My last girl worked with me for almost 5 years and today is her last day. I may sulk for awhile and drag my feet about filling her spot because it's really hard to find an equal.